7/3/16 - UPDATE - Changed to 4 stars. About a week ago, out of the blue, I was contacted by Dutton and said they wanted to reimburse me for the $250 for the camera work. I didn't even ask for it. They didn't want me to feel in any way that I had been a victim of a shake down. THAT IS IMPRESSIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE NO MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT IT. Now I will consider doing business with them again. BRAVO DUTTON! 6/15/16 - I am giving this company a 3 star review because in very many ways they are very professional and I like that. The crew that came out were friendly. clean cut, professionally dressed and knew what they were doing. When they were in my home they treated it with respect and were very neat and clean. The email communication is excellent and the calls about when someone was arriving ahead of schedule was great. All very professional and the employees are very well trained. The reason I don't give them 5 stars is because I believe, had I in anyway been a "pushover" or unsuspecting customer, I would be out a lot of money for no reason, at this point. THE PROBLEM: I accidentally let a corn husk go into my garbage disposal and when it chews it up, it doesn't disintegrate, it tangles up like and ball of yarn and plugged my drain. Up until this point, I had no problems with my drain whatsoever. The first technician came to my house, really nice guy, put in the snake and was not able to unplug the drain. To be honest, I didn't think that he really gave it that much effort and asked him to do it again, but he suggested if I had real problems, he would be making them worse by forcing the issue. He said we needed to get the camera guy out there to take a look at what the problem is for $250. I had a plugged drain, I agreed. The camera guy came out, also a really nice guy, and they pushed the camera into the plugged hole and said that my 60 year old galvanized drain pipe was bad and it needed replacing - to the tune of $12,000. I said thank you for your help, paid the $250 for the camera work, and let them know I would be getting competitive bids for the project. I called a local competitor to get a bid for the project. I told him the problem and he said "Ma'am, I hear what you are saying, but I think it would be best if I figure out if you really have a problem first." I said ok and agreed to let him snake my drain. He brought in his snake and in less than 2 minutes - yes... two minutes my drain was unplugged. Now I was pissed about what I considered was a complete shake down. I paid him $150 and said thank you. Better than $12,000. I stewed for a couple of days and then decided that I would like to give Dutton the opportunity to prove to me that it wasn't a shake down. The fact that they said the pipe was bad was eating at me and I wanted to know the truth. I wanted to give them the opportunity to right what I felt was a wrong. I wrote a scathing email to them and asked them to come back out here and run the camera again, at no charge to me, to really let me know if I had a bad pipe. Two weeks went by, I heard nothing. I went out of town, didn't follow up and let it drop. Then I an email that said, please give us a review of our service, which honestly I thought was great because they are looking for honest feedback. I sent them a reply and said, "I don't think you want me giving you a review at this point. You would not be at all happy with what I have to say." I told them about the email I sent and the fact I was pissed and then even more unhappy that they never responded to it. I heard from them the very next morning saying they were sorry and that it fell through the cracks, which, being a business owner myself, can understand happening. They scheduled the camera guy to come out again the next day, which he did for no charge. Once again, very professional, they showed up right as planned, neat and clean, offered no excuses, which I liked and went to work. Yes, the pipe is old and flaking, but it hasn't failed or collapsed at this point. It could be 1 month or 10 years, we don't know. What I do know from them coming back out is that I have a ticking time bomb under my house and now I have to make a decision what I want to do about it. I was still angry that I had to pay another company $150 to come out and open my drain, which I honestly believe they could have done in the first place, but I am not the plumber. So, the fact that they readily (with a second nudge) came out, at their expense to make sure that I was satisfied with them as a company is the reason they have 3 stars from me. What they told me originally is correct. I will need to put in a new pipe under my slab - EVENTUALLY. However, the perspective of what I will do and when I will do it is much different while my sink was clogged and I am doing dishes in the bath tub as opposed to having a free draining sink and the ability to explore my options... and they know that... go figure. read more

Your plumbing system is mostly not visible and repairs can be very costly which makes plumbing one of the repairs I dread the most. Recently we were doing the laundry when we heard some gurgling sounds coming from the adjacent bathroom drains. I thought it could be simply cleared by jetting water into the clean-out. Well . . . . that didn't work. :( And thus I called Dutton Plumbing. Initially it looked like it might take just a snaking of the main line for $79. That worked somewhat but it quickly escalated to needing a camera to see what the problems might be. That would be an additional $199; still not too bad. And now we come to the bad news. The camera revealed some dirt, roots and breaks in our 62+ year old clay pipes. The next step was for Nick to prepare an estimate. Whoa! Now things started to get expensive. From what started as a simple drain cleaning with camera scoping evolved into a lateral and main sewer line replacement recommendation. Since this was right before Christmas, this would be one unexpected Christmas present! Dutton started the work the same day under the leadership of Jimmy. Jimmy was awesome. He had excellent communication, explaining everything that would be happening. He called me everyday with an update. Since the lateral and main would be repaired/replaced with trenchless technology, there was minimal disruption to my landscape and hardscape. The worst part was having to make a 3x3 hole in our front patio. Additionally two other relatively small holes (one in the driveway and one next to a walkway in landscaping, had to be dug. Overall the crew did an excellent job minimizing the openings and professionally replacing the main line and lining the laterals. Plumbing problems, especially of this magnitude, are never pleasant. But Nick, Jimmy and the Dutton team, including the office staff, made it as pleasant as it could be. Having lived in my home for 29+ years without any major plumbing issues made the high cost of this repair more "acceptable" but it is never easy to get a huge repair bill right days before Christmas. All in all, I would recommend Dutton Plumbing as your plumbing contractor. The team is genuine, personal and professional. As for cost? What isn't expensive these days? While preparing the estimate, Nick was clear that Dutton was not the cheapest but emphasized the quality of their work. Usually I would get multiple estimates for work of this magnitude but in the end, I believe Dutton provided high quality service at a fair price. The work was completed in a timely and professional manner. read more

We have been Dutton customers for a few years, so when our downstairs toilet began to run constantly, we called. Andrew E. showed up and we explained our issue. He was pleasant, courteous, funny and yet serious about dealing with the issue. He took a look and began to explain to us that we should consider a Halo system for our hard water situation, which was likely the cause of the problem. We have had the hard sell from Dutton servicemen before, but since we are moving in a year or two, we had to consider ways to make our home more attractive to sell. We explained the toilet issues upstairs, thinking we needed new toilets in all 3 bathrooms. He came up and went into the guest bathroom and checked out the toilet. He took video of the dirty calcium buildup under the rim, and explained that the poor flushing was a result of blockages. Twice before, Dutton servicemen told us only one thing...buy a new toilet, so when Andrew began cleaning out the build up of calcium and educated us on caring for the toilet to keep it running until we know when we're moving, we didn't quite believe it. A serviceman who wanted to help us not by selling us new toilets (which we do need, but cannot afford at this time), but by making them work correctly now and how to keep them that way?? It's old school good service!!! By the time we sat down later to discuss the pricing and needs that we had, Andrew had gotten all 3 toilets working! He gave us options on how to finance if we needed to, why getting a water scrubbing system would be the right thing for us, and how he could practically give us one toilet free if we did the entire work together! He was going to say goodbye, but we felt we wanted to set up a connection as we appreciated Andrew as different from the other servicemen who've helped us with Dutton. So we got a 10 year service program which will help us to keep our home in top shape and the program will be a selling point for when we sell up. He is a rare find in the sea of service people who are trained to sell products first, then help the customer. He helped us as he educated us about meeting our future needs first. When we call Dutton again, we'll ask for Andrew E! read more

Dutton has changed. I needed a drain snaked, I asked for someone experienced. I didn't get a call, had to call the office twice. Fellow came and tried to upsell me, told he it wasn't 79.99 it was $129. When I said I had a $25 coupon he said he could only take it off the $225 price. I told him I didn't want him, I was going to call the office and cancel. He got furious, he began to fume, he said he would do it for $79.99 but yelled at me to take the stuff out fro under the sink. His snake was old, it banged the pipes, at one point I thought he might be trying to break them. Anger permeated the air, he was upset and letting me know it. Afterwards it worked, he wasn't congenial, but he was finally civil and not irate. He took my credit card and wrote some things on his hand as he was making up the bill. I was afraid but I asked him anyway to show me what he wrote, He was non plussed and said he wasn't a thief. He left. It was upsetting. I'm 71. This is the 2nd time Dutton has tried to upsell me. 3 monhts ago I had a shower valve that needed replacing, 20 minute job, $20 part. They cancelled twice, Fri and Sat and on Mon. the hot water was running. It was a different person, very young and inexperienced, with a young trainee.He made me agree to fix, sing something o his tablet, His aid went for the part, I thought he fixed it, but after 20 minutes he said he'd worked up a quote, $1500 to replace the whole shower unit. The 3 quotes he had were not to replace the hot water valve. He then worked up a quote to repalce both, I wanted only the 1, He wanted $265 for it. By the time they came the hot water was running out of the tap so I paid it. The problem was, I tried to get estimates and the office said the plumber had them in the truck, he didn't call to quote. He said it wasn't free estimates, if I didn't do it he would charge me $39. This was an inexperienced kid, broke the knob, etc. trying to replace it. Is Dutton now independent contractors? Twice an upsell was tried. Dutton has changed. They do good drain cleaning, but I won't call them for regular plumbing anymore. read more

I have used Dutton Plumbing over the years, and on some things they are very well positioned and on others they are not. All of their technicians use a pre programmed rate system. They are not the most expensive in the industry and also not the least expensive. Keep in mind that the cost includes fair wedge for worker, health benefits, a fair retirement plan, insurance, licensing, equipment, inventory and everything else that goes into a legitimate enterprise including a fair profit for owners. During their last visit, they needed to replace a pressure release valve on my water heater. Larry C arrived within 4 hours of my call, replaced the valve quickly and professionally. The key to any job is tools and knowledge. If I had the tools and knowledge my job would of probably cost about $75 in parts. However I did not have the correct tool in this particular case, and did not want to risk saving $175, that might of cost me $1200 plus for a new water heater. The old saying penny wise and pound foolish would apply here. Keep in mind that Dutton has the infrastructure to get someone there fast when you need them. You are paying for that ability also! In reading other reviews, I would say just like anything else, if it is not an emergency, or urgent shop around! Nothing is stopping you from going on the internet and pricing things out before any plumber arrives! Knowledge is power! Some of the comments do not make sense. Dutton charges $39.95 to come out if you do not use them for a quoted repair. They do not charge more than that for a quote if they do not make a repair. If you keep them there beyond that quote, seeking more info- they are not your friend and they are not there to give you free advise. Get the quote, do not keep them there for an hour talking, if you are not going to do the work and things will be fine. Just like any industry or any purchase, buyer needs to be aware. Being aware will usually result in a satisfactory experience for all parties. For the last 20 years or so, I have used Dutton and am certainly not a one time customer. read more

My sewage line was destroyed by tree roots and Dutton Company fixed it in 24 hours. On the first day they send Mark who was very professional and knowledgeable. He assured me and my father that everything would be done correctly. Mark made this stressful situation bearable and had alot of patience and explained exactly what was going to be done. He also had an assistant with him who was also great. These two guys I can tell you are the type of guys who are there to work and not afraid to get dirty. On the second day they brought in three other guys by the name of Bernardo, Ricardo, and Eduardo who replaced the line and finished the work. My father was observing their work and would call me to tell me the progress. He was very impressed by these three men who he stated were very professional and hard working. The whole process took three-days. First day they assessed the problem, 2nd day they replaced the line, and the 3rd day the inspector comes and inspects and approves the work. Even though the whole process took three days, they had the sewage line working in 24 hours. I can not say enough about this company except that I am pleased with their service. Their employees are extremely well trained, experienced and offer the best customer service I have ever seen in a long time. FYI, the service is not cheap however they are worth every penny because at least you know that you will get the job done right the first time. Just ask yourself would you rather pay less and have it done wrong or end up having to fix it again or possibly end up paying double because someone did not know what they were doing and destroyed your line. It happens, we all hear about the horror stories from our friends and neighbors. Think about it, is it worth having a peace if mind knowing you had a competent company fix your problem? One does not realize how inconvenient it is not be able to flush a toilet or take a shower. Sometimes life's simple little pleasurs are worth every penny. read more

Amended review: After posting the below review I was contacted by the company who were very apologetic for the experience we had had. They asked if We would allow them the opportunity to come out the following morning to resolve the issue at no cost to us. We agreed and the technician, Felix, who came out was thorough and helpful. He was able to resolve our issue and give some recommendations for a longer-term solution. Having now had a good work experience with this company I would use them again. First review: It's so unfortunate that I have to write this review because the initial customer service and responsiveness was excellent. The woman on the phone was always very helpful and we did get the phone calls updating us regularly, however, we were rescheduled three times and when they wanted to reschedule us for the fourth time we decided to go with another company. This is a holiday period and we stayed close to home letting some of our plans go in order to be available to this company when they were ready to come out as they said they would. With most companies when you are the one reschedule toward the end of the day you are the first on the list the following day, however, it seems that with this company we were always at the end of the list push to the next day. I understand that people have broken pipes and such emergencies, that take precedence at times, however, with three block drains and water coming up to our back doors it was an emergency for us too. The company should have told us after the first time they wanted to reschedule that they were unlikely to get to us for a while and we could've gone with another company in between the two major rains we've just had. I would not recommend this company unless you have a very large job that they deem important enough. read more

I tried to fix a toilet problem myself, and after numerous trips to OSH (old house = weird plumbing) I had ended up flooding my guest bathroom. I called Dutton, and they were there within 2 hours [the agent who I spoke with on the phone had said they had an available team in the area who could be there within an hour, which was obviously inaccurate, but I don't hold that against the gentlemen that showed up, I hold it against the company - I guarantee that the dispatcher had a 'script' she had to follow] I was fully satisfied with the service of their two technicians: Sean G. and Tom. Both were courteous, and patient with all my questions. I got two estimates, one using the parts I had bought myself after 4 visits to OSH, and one using their parts, which came straight out of their service manual. (It reminded me of buying a car at Saturn - It is in black and white what you would pay - no hidden charges). It wasn't cheap, but they also didn't gauge the prices. Both gentlemen were extraordinarily patient with me - a very frustrated homeowner with a busted, wet bathroom. I would use them again. As a note, yes they do charge a service fee, but it is taken off the price of the repairs. After reading some of the other reviews I have to say that I really don't know enough about the company itself to recommend it, however their Plumbers/Technicians who actually came out were phenomenal, and I was fully satisfied with the job they did. I think I still would use them again.....but if it was something that would cost me a LOT of money, yes, I would get other estimates from other companies as well. read more

This morning I got a distressed call from my fiancé saying that the toilet and spare bath started bubbling and backing up. I knew we were going to have a plumbing issue since our drains were starting to slow down - but I thought I had a couple weeks. This happened on a Wednesday morning while I was at work. I remembered hearing a Dutton Plumbing commercial and thought I would give them a call. To my amazement a real person answered the phone and was able to schedule an appointment for me that afternoon. When Mark M. Arrived at my house he asked me what the problem was and he determined it was a main line bloackage. We walked the property to look for a clean out and After no clean out was located he told me we had to pull a toilet to get the snake in. Knowing that pulling a toilet was messy and potentially could leave an odor I was a bit concerned... Mark and he's apprentice were very professional and laid down a very nice thick mat for their tools and to keep the new tile floor clean of debris. They also laid another mat in the shower to place the toilet on once it was off while they were snaking the drain. It took them less than an hour and half to clear my extreamly clogged drain. After they were done they reset the toilet better than it was before and cleaned up. They left the restroom floor clean and even sanitized the area where they worked. Mark M. And his apprentice were great, they have made me a life time Dutton Plumbing customer and even had the job done before my fiancé got home from work. Thank you Mark and Dutton Plumbing for helping us out! read more

Our shower drain was clogged beyond belief. My sister had called ROTO-ROOTER but they wanted $241 to unclog this drain. So I called DUTTON and made an appointment. Jay was on time, enough that he got there before I got home from work. He addressed both my mom and I by name and explained everything thoroughly before I Okayed the job. After he cleared the drain I asked him to inspect both the master bedroom toilet and the kitchen sink. He patiently inspected them both and gave me the quotes, that I requested for the jobs. There was never an up-sale of any kind! Instead he gave me a great tip on how to get a better flush from my old toilet between now and when I replace it. When I asked him to look at the kitchen sink, he approached it with the same diligence and when he found the garbage disposal was the problem he attempted to fix it at no extra charge. Overall the experience with DUTTON, and specifically with Jay Napoles was Awesome!! Their price for the initial drain repair at $79 is a steal And if any additional clog is related to the same issue there is no extra charge. I would have gladly payed slightly more after my experience with DUTTON, they have earned my trust. Supervisor Oscar De La Torre was involved in the entire process and there is even a quality control inspection visit by another technician after the work is completed. From my experience, I can tell you DUTTON is invested in making you a customer for life!! I truly can't imagine a better plumbing experience! read more

The toilet in our lower bathroom was clogged and not draining at all. We initially called Dutton Plumbing and the guy who came pulled the toilet out and told me we had a major problem with our sewer drain and that he had to get a camera to locate the issue. He came the next day with another guy and they inserted a camera and showed me all the roots that had "invaded" the drain pipe. They told me the main sewer drain was cracked and if we did not get it fixed we could have sewage backing up into the house. They gave me three options: Option # 1 - do some kind roto rooter job for $2500. This would be a temporary fix and we may have to revisit this in 5 years or so. Option# 2 was to have a section of the toilet drain replaced for $9000. Option #3 - inject some kind of resin into the main sewer drain pipe that will eventually harden to form a solid inner lining for about $12,000. I did not buy any of it because all other sinks, baths and toilets in the house were working fine. What started out as $79.00 visit quickly turned out to $300.00 hole in our pocket for doing a camera inspection. I paid them the $300 (minus a coupon for $75) for doing nothing to solve our problem! We called Barcena Plumbing the next day and the guy did an excellent job of pulling out the roots and got our commode draining perfectly. And for all that I paid just $213.00! Barcena was a no-nonsense, no-bull, efficient and highly cost effective alternative. Boy if only I had known about them before! read more

After returning from vacation on a Friday night our Gardner left a note that there was a leak and water was turned off to our house. What initially impressed me about Dutton Plumbing is their timeliness in both the return initial call, (individual was very polite) and the accuracy of the arrival estimate as to when plumbers would arrive also considering it was a Saturday ( no extra charge.the initial service fee seemed reasonable. Servicemen were polite very professional, Matt D and assistant Mike. Observing their work they were efficient, courteous and pleasant. Even had long non plumbing discussion. I have no problem what so ever with the job the servicemen performed. The problem I did have is that I was unable to get some detailed breakdown of the work to be charged since the company apparently has predetermined costs based on an item used not quantity. Example - apparently copper pipe $850 charge for 5 feet with fittings as far as I would be the same for 10+ft. ( PVC would be only $82 less ?? So I chose copper) Total job $1357-d/c $190 = $1167) I mentioned this was rather high however I had little choice at that time, my plumber had retired, no water for a weekend , if it wasn't for the exceptional professionalism of Matt (who seemed that it was out of his control re charge breakdown) I agreed to the job. Hoping to review the above, mainly to determine if this was a one time charge issue when considering future service by Dutton. Sy S read more

Our water heater broke a week ago. We first called a local plumber who said he could fix it but we had to order the part for it ourselves and he gave us very little direction on exactly where and what to order. I did my best trying to find the part so I guessed and of course it wasn't the right one (he didn't charge me at all though so that was good). The total cost for the repair and the part would have been $500 with the local plumber. I decided to try Dutton Plumbing instead. David from Dutton Plumbing came out on a Saturday and took a look at it. He gave us four options with quotes on all four. The first option was he could try to use the part the we had ordered but it might not have worked and he let us know that. The second option was he could fix the water heater using the correct part from their stock of materials and the third and fourth options were to replace the water heater (two different types). Even though the water heater was 8 years old, he did not pressure as at all to replace the water heater which I thought was very commendable. He fixed the water heater with the parts in stock. He had to drive all the way back to Simi Valley to get it and then came back the same day and he did a fabulous job. The total cost was not much more than the previous plumbers quote and he was very knowledgeable and easy to understand. Thank you David for fixing our water heater! read more

Sorry for a long one. Called on Thursday and they arrived in about an hour or so. J**** was the plumber who arrived. I had a clogged drain between my home and the main line. While J**** was clearing out the drain with the snake and 15-20minutes had passed with no success he asked me to walk inside the home to the toilet to see if I can hear a clinking sound below the toilet in the pipes. He asked me this to see if he was going the right direction, something a plumber should be able to accomplish with any experience. So I checked on the toilet and I told him there were no sounds so he must be going in the right direction which is towards the street to the main line away from the house. At this point he must have cracked the clogged pipe because he began asking aggressively if I was interested in receiving a free mapping inspection for cracked pipes that might end up in a $200+ charge and I add the + because I cannot state the exact dollar amount I just know its above $200. I declined the offer because afterwords he unclogged(cracked) the drain and tonight the downstairs toilet is backed up and its only been two days. If it was a year later I don't know probably my fault but 2 days makes you wonder. I hope Dutton makes this right. I just opened this yelp account so I can leave a comment so if you think this is a fake review you are mistaken. Chris 805-265-9243 read more

Technician's Brad F, Ryan J & Cody. Ryan & Cody came on Aug 18th for a toilet issue we were having. Ryan gave me 3 options I chose to replace the part only. Cartridge replacement $355.90 Later that evening we left for a few hours & upon returning home our garage was flooded. My husband & I just stood there, thinking it was the toilet in the master & then ran upstairs to see what damage was done to the inside of our home. Thank God nothing. It was not the toilet. The water heater in the garage blew. We found a note from our neighbor that he had shut off the main water valve to the house. I quickly called Dutton & Brad came out. He was here for sometime. Now we needed a new electric water heater to the tune of $1776.49 I did speak to Brad about the price since I went online to look at the price of water heaters at Lowes & Home depot which were much cheaper. Dutton is a bit expensive, however I do appreciate the time all 3 technicians took to explain the repairs. They are all very knowledgeable & professional. I love that they wear shoe booties, no matter the color. (Pink just happens to be one of my fav's) I will use Dutton Plumbing in future. Thanks guys for getting the job done. :) Now my battle starts with the DWP for however many gallons of water they will claim I wasted. I will laugh my butt off if it cost more than the water heater.... :) read more

Marc did a fine job fixing a broken pipe and Dutton was the quickest of four plumbers to call back on Monday morning after my desperation calls on Sunday. I should have waited for another call. I was charged $662 for a two-and-a-half hour job (that's $264 an hour) PLUS got a hard sell on a house-wide water filtration system that would eliminate chlorine and other chemicals in the water and prevent any more leaks. All this for a mere $6,600, but with a credit for the repair work. So I checked with another plumber highly recommended by my son and with a friend who is an environmental engineer. They agreed that a filtration system would not prevent leaks regardless of the quality of the copper pipe used.The plumber also said he would have done the job for his going rate of $90 an hour plus material. So a $300 job was a $662 job. And after a very quick web search, I found the top-rated house-wide filter system runs about $1,900, not including installation, I assume. And I almost forgot. He noticed a couple of rust stains on the water heater and recommended that we replace it, for between $4,000 and $6,000 depending on the warranty (10-year, 30-year, lifetime). It is nice that the big guy on the block has a big staff, 30 trucks and an efficient infrastructure. It's another to be a bully and a profiteer. Call someone else. read more

We had a hot water pipe leak under the kitchen slab. Daughter, Son in law and grand kids coming in the next day. Called around to get some fast help. One of the companies was Dutton Plumbing. Local company that has a great rep. Their Service Pro " Luis Z. " Responded very quickly to asses the damage. I told him we needed help quick and out regular plumber cant get here to help. After we looked at all the repair options he gave us the price, and said they could have it done today. He even made a call to his boss " Paul " to see if get a better price on the work. While we were talking, our regular plumber called and told me that he was on his way. I had to tell Luis that we were going to use our regular guy and unfortunately they would not get this job. That being said I had to take the time to tell those that read the see reviews that Dutton Plumbing and Luis Z were the best ! Luis Z was very helpful, and very professional with his work ethic. We went through several different ways to solve the problem at hand, and he went over what may be the costs with each one. In the end I thanked him for the prompt response and for taking the time to go through all the options. He said that OK... he was glad we were getting the problem fixed and that all that counts. Thanks Luis and Dutton. read more